It's Oran in a rout

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The Oran baseball team's hitting offset a mediocre starting pitching performance earlier this week in the sectional round of the Class 1 state playoffs.

On Friday in the Class 1 quarterfinal, the Eagles scored the only run they needed against Saxony Lutheran in the first inning, as junior left-hander Chase Seyer shut the Crusaders down in a 9-0 rout at the Perryville City Park.

Seyer faced just two batters over the minimum, and the Eagles played flawless defense behind him to advance to the state's final four.

Oran will face Sedalia, Mo., Sacred Heart at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Mo.

"He did a good job pitching today," Oran coach Mitch Wood said of Seyer. "Our pitching and defense has brought us here, and we've just been letting out hitting take care of itself."

Offense has not been a problem for the Eagles.

Oran (25-4) has scored 31 runs in its past three games -- it beat Cooter 14-4 in five innings Wednesday -- and averages more than 10 runs a game this season.

For the second straight game, the Eagles pounded 10 hits. And for the second straight game, Oran's opponent aided the offensive explosion with shaky fielding.

Saxony Lutheran (14-7) committed three errors, all leading to run-scoring innings. All three were throwing errors on the infield, and three runs scored directly from the errors.

The grass on the Perryville City Park field appeared to be in poor shape, and Wood said he tried to exploit that.

"I told my bunch you've got to hit the ball low and hard and make something happen on a grass infield like that," Wood said.

The Crusaders made errors in each of the first two innings errors that led to Oran runs, leaving Saxony assistant coach Lance Limbaugh perplexed.

"What happened to it?" he asked in reference to his team's defense. "They threw the ball around. Just mental lapses those first few innings."

While the errors did not help Saxony starter Ben Courtois' cause, a hanging breaking pitch which ended his day. Oran junior Chris Asmus chased Courtois with a three-run home run -- his first of the year -- with two outs in the third.

Oran extnded its streak of games with a home run to seven, even though Seyer had his four-game homer streak ended.

Asmus said he missed a pitch he should have hit earlier in the at-bat before connecting on the homer.

"The first pitch was fat, and I missed it," Asmus said. "Coach told me to keep my head in there. ... I've been having a lot of trouble with that. The second one was in the same place, and I just saw it and hit it."

The home run helped Asmus make amends for a missed sign on the basepaths an inning earlier. Asmus missed a steal sign that would have put him on second base, and likely would have allowed him to score on a two-out single by Kody Campbell.

"He [Wood] told me to make up for that run we didn't score," Asmus said. "That was a relief."

Down 5-0 after Asmus' home run, the Crusaders got their first hit in the bottom half of the third. Courtois reached on an infield single and made it to second on a wild pitch. Garrett Fritsche popped it up on the infield on a hit-and-run with one out, and Courtois was easily doubled up, as he was nearly on third when the ball was caught.

Dustin Roth led off the fourth with a single for Saxony Lutheran, but Oran turned a double play on a grounder to second.

Saxony Lutheran had just four hits against Seyer.

"He came out with that first-pitch strike and we couldn't catch up," Limbaugh said.

Seyer struck out five and did not walk a batter in the complete-game victory. Seyer, who also picked up the win in the district championship game, moved to 6-1 on the mound.

Pitching in a big game was nothing new for Seyer, who started the Class 1 championship game his freshman season. Seyer is one of four current Eagles who started in the championship game two years ago.

"It's a great experience, and I've always wanted to get back there," said Asmus, who was also on the state roster in 2004.

Caleb Seyer was 3-for-3 for the Eagles on Friday with two doubles, a walk and a sacrifice fly. Campbell added two hits.

Campbell and Caleb Seyer are two of four sophomore starters who will make their first appearance in the state final four next week.

Wood said he is excited to see who will come up big for the team at state.

"That's the thing I like about state," Wood said. "You don't know who is going to come out and do something for you. That's the fun thing about putting kids in situations where they can perform. Right now, they're doing a good job of performing."

Oran will be making its eighth trip to the final four in school history and the sixth under Wood. This is the fourth appearance in five years for Oran, although the Eagles have yet to bring home a state title.

"I spoke at a clinic this past year and one of the things someone asked was 'Don't you get tired of coming up here and getting second place,' and I responded, 'I'd get tired of not going, that's what I'd get tired of,'" Wood said. "I just want a chance to win it every year. If good things happen for us, fine, and if we don't É the kids play hard and hopefully we represent Southeast Missouri well."

The Crusaders represented their school well, making their first state playoff appearance in the second year of the program. With only a few seniors on the team Saxony Lutheran should contend once again next year.

"We came out and proved a lot of people wrong," Limbaugh said.

Oran 9, Saxony Lutheran 0

Oran 113 301 0 -- 9 10 0

Saxony 000 000 0 -- 0 4 3

WP -- Chase Seyer, 6-1. LP -- Ben Courtois. HR -- Chris Asmus (O). 2B -- Caleb Seyer 2 (O), Chris Roth (S). Multiple hits -- Oran, Ca. Seyer 3-3; Kody Campbell 2-3. Records -- Oran 25-4, Saxony Lutheran 14-7.